


How To Stop A Civil War: A Guide By Steve Rogers & Tony Stark

by tricksterity



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Civil War AU, D/s undertones, M/M, Once again ignores most of AoU canon, Sharon/Steve is a lie, Sub Steve Rogers, seriously Peggy just died and he's kissing her niece?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-08
Updated: 2016-05-08
Packaged: 2018-06-07 03:34:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6783517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tricksterity/pseuds/tricksterity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“Look, Cap, I know that he’s your best friend and all, but he has killed hundreds if not thousands of people! He needs to be responsible for his actions! Just like all of us need to take responsibility for what we’ve caused and what we’ve done," Tony swore.</i>
</p><p> </p><p>  <i>“He’s not just my best friend,” Steve interrupted. “Even if he were, I’d still be doing this for him. He’s- dammit Tony, he’s my Pepper. My partner, lover, sweetheart, other half, better half, love of my life – whatever you call it these days. And I thought he was dead, Tony. The last time I lost him I drove a plane into the Arctic not two days later so I don’t think you can even comprehend how much I care about this man and how far I will go to save him, because I have him back, and I will not let anyone take him away from me again.” </i></p><p>AKA how Civil War may have gone had there not been so much #nohomo™ going on</p>
            </blockquote>





	How To Stop A Civil War: A Guide By Steve Rogers & Tony Stark

**Author's Note:**

> I just saw Civil War and I LOVED IT, but Sharon/Steve just felt so forced and also there wasn't enough Steve/Bucky interaction for me so... here is my self-indulgent AU! (Also, I've only seen it the one time so if I get a few details wrong pls tell me!)

* * *

 

Though the walls surrounding Steve were glass, giving the illusion that the central room they were in was far bigger than it appeared and was still connected with those outside of it, Steve still felt like they were closing in around him. He forced himself to remain still even as his skin itched and something beneath it wanted to crawl out and wreak havoc; to shove aside anything in its path to get to the man that Steve could see on the screens.

 

 _My name is Bucky_ , he had said. Fuck.

 

How could Steve even think of signing the Sokovian Accords when doing so would condemn Bucky to a life of imprisonment for actions that he had no control over – or would condemn to his death? After the files that Nat dropped, the entire world was gunning for the Winter Soldier to pay for his crimes. Out of seven billion people, only a handful knew that Bucky had no control over what happened.

 

And Tony? Was he really trying to convince Steve that he was signing the Accords because he thought it would bring Pepper back to him? It wasn’t that Steve couldn’t see where Tony was coming from, and Vision had been completely correct when he said that there was a definite causality between the Avengers and global threats; but Tony hadn’t seen the organisation he trusted crumble around him only to reveal the thriving monster of the enemy he’d sworn to stamp out, who had taken the love of his life and turned them into a weapon – then aimed it at him. Organisations had agendas, those agendas changed, and Steve couldn’t guarantee that they would always agree.

 

Especially when it came to Bucky Barnes.

 

“I can’t sign, Tony. You know I can’t,” Steve sighed. Behind him, Sam stood with arms crossed, backing him up, even when Natasha sat on the opposite side of the table with Tony while Sharon – for now – was taking a neutral middle ground. Steve knew that if push came to shove, though, she’d be on their side.

 

Tony frustratedly scraped his chair back and got to his feet, visibly resisting the urge to run a hand through his hair. “Why not, Cap? I know you know it’s the right thing to do!”

 

Steve got to his feet too. “I’ll sign the Accords if you can guarantee me that Bucky gets out of that containment cell, is acquitted of the crimes he is accused of and is given the treatment that he needs,” he argued. Tony exhaled heavily through gritted teeth.

 

“Look, Cap, I know that he’s your best friend and all, but he has killed _hundreds_ if not _thousands_ of people! He needs to be responsible for his actions! Just like all of us need to take responsibility for what we’ve caused and what we’ve done.” At Tony’s words, Natasha quietly ground her teeth. Steve knew Natasha’s history – knew that she’d essentially been in the exact same position as Bucky but with a slightly lower kill count. She’d fought her way out of the life she’d been forced into, and Bucky needed to be given that same chance.

 

“You’d call seventy years of torture, imprisonment and brainwashing _responsibility_? He’s not a war criminal, he’s the world’s longest serving prisoner of war! He deserves to be able to get himself back together, not to be tossed to the wolves as General Ross’ scapegoat!” Steve argued back, slamming a fist onto the table so hard it cracked.

 

Tony pursed his lips and took a deep breath. The next words out of his mouth were quiet and hesitant. “Steve… I know you want to believe that, but we have literally no proof. There was nothing about the Winter Soldier in the Hydra-SHIELD files other than the data about what hits he was involved in. That’s why we’re putting him through the psych eval. That’s why we need to contain him,” he admitted. Sam shifted uneasily at Steve’s side as he felt the tension in the room skyrocket.

 

Steve couldn’t stop the way his expression shuttered, and Tony literally did a double-take.

 

“He didn’t remember who I was, Tony,” Steve said, half-surprised at how low and dangerous his own voice had become. “He didn’t even remember his own name. That man you have in there is Bucky Barnes, not the Winter Soldier. He is not responsible for the actions that Hydra ordered him to commit, and I will not lose him again. He deserves more than that.”

 

Sam stepped up to his side and gripped his shoulder gently. “Steve…”

 

“No,” Steve snapped, gently cutting Sam off. “I don’t care if I have to go through every person in this goddamn building. I’m not losing Bucky again. Not after last time.”

 

Sam’s fingers tightened on Steve’s shoulder. He was the only one in the room who knew how important Bucky was to Steve – he had stayed with him the past two years while they scoured the world for Bucky Barnes, had been the only one that Steve had opened up to about that day in the Alps so long ago. Natasha might’ve figured it out, seeing as it was her job to do that, but she hadn’t said a word. Only helped when she could.

 

“Christ, Steve,” Tony swore. “I know he’s your best friend-“

 

“He’s not just my best friend,” Steve interrupted. “Even if he were, I’d still be doing this for him. He’s- dammit Tony, he’s my Pepper. My partner, lover, sweetheart, other half, _better_ half, love of my life – whatever you call it these days. And I thought he was _dead_ , Tony. The last time I lost him I drove a plane into the Arctic not two days later so I don’t think you can even comprehend how much I care about this man and how far I will go to save him, because I have him back, and I will not let anyone take him away from me again.”

 

Tony’s jaw dropped, along with Sharon’s, though Natasha looked unsurprised. Sam’s hand slid from Steve’s shoulder to his wrist, bringing to Steve’s attention the fact that he’d curled his fingers into fists so hard his knuckles were almost creaking.

 

“So I will happily sign your Accords the second you take Bucky Barnes’ fate out from it’s pages,” Steve finished, crossing his arms, letting his fingers unfurl from the position they’d been locked into. Tony, for once in his life, was silent, and so Steve switched his gaze from him to the video feed of Bucky.

 

Steve didn’t need to know this new Bucky to be able to read his face. Something was going wrong.

 

“Nat-“ was all he managed to get out of his mouth before the entire room was plunged into darkness as all of the power shut down. Steve automatically turned to Sam, who usually had night vision on his goggles, and then remembered that their suits and weapons had been taken upon entering the facility.

 

Steve’s eyes adjusted to the dark almost instantly, however, and he saw that Tony’s glasses had lit up with some sort of holo-screen. Tony was looking right at Steve with an expression of dawning clarity.

 

“Bucky,” Steve breathed, and ran. Sharon only just got the door open for him, and Steve wound his way through the darkened building as fast as his legs could carry him, Sam and Tony following behind as quickly as they could. Steve kept up his momentum by kicking off the walls to rebound whenever he turned a corner. Emergency lights flickered on as he slid to a stop outside Bucky’s containment cell, hearing Sam and Tony come up behind him.

 

Inside, Bucky was yelling and struggling as the psych doctor was reading to him in Russian from a notebook he held in his hand.

 

“Friday, get me a goddamn translation,” Tony ordered as Steve tried to pull at the door. It was thick, unyielding metal, controlled by electricity and not a lock and key – without power, the door would never open. Steve then balled up his fist and slammed it into the glass window in the door. It was bulletproof, and so only cracked, but the second punch sent the glass shattering, splattered with Steve’s blood.

 

Bucky was writhing in the chair, screaming for the doctor to stop. Friday translated the words the doctor was reading out to him – seemingly random: _daybreak_ , _furnace_ , _nine_ , _benign_. Steve raised a leg and began to kick at the frame of the door, weakening the metal with each hit, crumpling the door in it’s frame.

 

“ _STEVE!_ ” Bucky screamed, throat raw, as he ripped through his restraints with his metal arm.

 

“It’s a disassociative trigger code,” Sam breathed as the doctor continued. _Homecoming. One._

 

“Fuck,” Tony breathed. Steve’s heart raced so much he could hear it pumping blood around his body, could hear the blood rush in his head like one could hear waves in a seashell. The door was still stubbornly unmoving, though he was making progress, and inside the room, Bucky finally smashed his way out of his containment cell.

 

Steve had less than half a second of hope that lifted in his chest when the doctor dropped the final word.

 

_Freight car._

 

Bucky froze in the crouching position he’d come to, and Steve staggered back from his last kick that had sent shockwaves reverberating up his leg. All of them waited with baited breath to see what Bucky would do – and Steve’s heart lodged in his throat and his stomach dropped when Bucky rose to his feet with terrifyingly blank eyes.

 

“ _Ready to comply_ ,” came his empty voice. Steve didn’t hear what the doctor said next because Tony turned his watch into a gauntlet, powered it up, and blasted the mangled door in. Steve intended to grab the doctor from behind, rip him away from Bucky and slam him up against the concrete wall so hard his ribs broke, but the doctor was faster.

 

“Get me out of here, soldat,” he ordered. Within seconds, Bucky’s metal arm was once again flying at Steve’s head with lethal force and speed. Compelled to immediately stop Bucky – he was the only one in the room strong enough to not immediately be killed by the Winter Soldier, especially with both Sam and Tony lacking their suits – he yelled for the two of them to restrain the doctor. Bucky, under orders, swept his leg out and caught Steve’s, sending him hard to the ground.

 

Steve immediately launched himself back to his feet, but Bucky was already advancing on Sam and Tony, who were holding the doctor. They were forced to either take a metal fist to the temple or let him go – and the doctor ran straight out the door.

 

The Winter Soldier was highly trained, but not fast enough to take on both Sam, Tony and a supersoldier. Steve slipped an arm around Bucky’s throat from behind, grabbing him in a chokehold as he physically pulled him away from Sam and Tony. He was only just tall enough to be able to use his height as an advantage, and both of Bucky’s arms came up to grasp Steve’s forearm, trying desperately to pull his arm away from his windpipe.

 

“Bucky, _stop_ ,” Steve pleaded. But the Winter Soldier was in control now, and he fought like a wild, dangerous animal. “I don’t want to have to hurt you. Bucky, _please_.”

 

It broke Steve’s heart to have to do this to Bucky again just like on the helicarrier, to hear Bucky wheeze and gasp for breath that was denied to him. Steve looked up to Sam, who stood next to a blank-faced, shocked Tony, and Sam nodded.

 

Steve used all his strength to whirl Bucky around and slam his head into the side of the containment cell, then followed his unconscious body down to the ground. Red, red blood trickled down the side of Bucky’s head, and Steve brushed his long hair away from his face to see that Bucky looked almost peaceful in sleep. No longer plagued by what life had forced him to become.

 

Footsteps approached from behind them, and a hesitant hand landed on Steve’s shoulder. “Jesus, Cap,” Tony breathed. “I didn’t- I mean… _fuck._ ”

 

“Believe me now, Tony?” Steve murmured. The power then flickered back on with a whirr, and Steve gently wiped away the blood from Bucky’s face, the stream of which was already tapering off and clogging up at the wound. He took a few seconds to breathe, to wait for his heart to stop pounding away in his chest like it was about to jump straight out of his ribcage.

 

Then Steve braced himself and heaved himself to his feet, Bucky cradled in his arms like he wasn’t two hundred and sixty pounds of muscle and metal. In the doorway, T’Challa stood, taking in the scene around them. Steve had no idea how long he had been there for, but it must have been long enough, as the man stepped out of the way when Steve passed him.

 

“Where’s the nearest cell?” Steve asked Sharon, who was standing behind the Wakandan king. “Standard, not… like this.”

 

“Second hallway on the left, fourth door down,” Sharon answered. Nobody spoke as Steve carried Bucky down the hallways, and Sharon wordlessly entered the code to open the door in full view of Steve. _4-2-5-9-8-6._

 

“Tony,” Steve said, and the billionaire took a step forward. “If anyone follows us in, enters without permission or tries to knock either one of us out, I will take Bucky and run. Got it?”

 

“Loud and clear, Cap,” Tony replied, voice quiet as he stared at Bucky in contemplation. Steve walked into the cell, the door shutting behind him. It wasn’t anything like the monstrosity that they’d put Bucky in – the walls were a creamy white, and there was a bed in one corner next to a toilet and sink. Steve crossed the room and gently laid Bucky down on the bed, then walked away and sat in the opposite corner where he could keep eyes on both Bucky and the door.

 

Then he waited.

 

Steve had no delusions about the fact that the others had probably gone straight back to the control room where General Ross and everyone’s mother would be intently watching them. Steve didn’t care. If this cleared Bucky’s name, then he didn’t give a fuck who was watching.

 

It was about ten minutes before Bucky began to stir, and then all at once he jerked into consciousness, sitting upright almost faster than Steve could track with his metal hand clenched into a fist. His eyes took in the room and it’s one exit, before his gaze settled on Steve. Almost immediately, he relaxed from his flight-or-fight mode. Steve smiled.

 

“Hey, Buck,” he said. He couldn’t still be the Winter Soldier, or he’d have crossed the room by now with his fist in the air and intent to kill.

 

“Steve,” Bucky croaked, voice breaking a little. Steve should’ve asked for a glass of water.

 

“How are you doing?” Steve asked. “I hit you a little hard, sorry.”

 

“I… did I—“

 

“Just me,” Steve replied with a light smile. “Nobody’s hurt.”

 

At Steve’s words, Bucky broke out into self-depricating laughter. “Fuck, even after I get all my memories back Hydra still manages to get inside my head.”

 

Steve swallowed thickly. “What did that guy want, Buck?”

 

“I…” Bucky frowned, thinking. Steve had always loved when Bucky’s brow had furrowed like that when he was deep in thought. Though of late it’d only meant that he was struggling to remember who he was. “He wanted to know about Siberia. Really badly.”

 

“What happened in Siberia?” Steve asked. In the control room, there were probably quite a few people frantically scanning through Hydra files, trying to figure out what was going on.

 

“It’s not what, Steve, it’s _who_ ,” Bucky replied. “I’m not the only Winter Soldier out there. That night I was ordered to take back some of the serum, not Erskine’s one, but close; better than the one Zola used on me in Azzano. They gave it to the other soldiers, who I trained.”

 

Steve’s eyebrows hit his hairline. Other Winter Soldiers… more people who were just as fast, as lethal and as dangerous as Bucky, all waiting to be unleashed on the world. He’d seen how much damage Bucky could do- if there were others…

 

“How many more are there?” he asked.

 

“Five. They’re all in cryo in the facility they kept me in, but they won’t be for long if that guy gets to them first. He’s got the book that doesn’t just have _my_ activation codes, but theirs as well. They’re just as lethal as I am,” Bucky admitted, his eyes firmly stuck to the floor. Steve wished that he’d look up again.

 

Steve took a deep breath. “Then we get to them first, get them out, and get them help.”

 

Bucky laughed again, and finally looked up. Steve wished he hadn’t. “You can’t save us, Steve. Hydra got so deep into our heads that I doubt you could ever root any of it out. I’m a threat to everyone, and especially a threat to you. You can’t trust me, Steve.”

 

Steve gritted his teeth and got to his feet. He made sure to telegraph his movements as he crossed the room to Bucky, and then kneeled between Bucky’s legs.

 

“What they did to you-“ Steve said, running his hand along Bucky’s metal arm, “-what they made you do? It wasn’t your fault, Bucky. You had no choice.”

 

Bucky’s lips turned up into a sad smile. “Still doesn’t change that I did it.”

 

“Rumlow-“ Steve began, stuttering over the name. “He… he said that you remembered. You remembered who I was.”

 

“All the damn time,” Bucky laughed, eyes lit up with mirth. “That’s why they implemented my words in the first place. They couldn’t ever wipe you out of my brain, Stevie. So they created an altered state of mind where they could control what I thought and what I knew. No way for you to get into my head, then.”

 

And Steve was familiar enough with Bucky to know what was coming next, what that tone of voice implied. The last time he’d heard it, it’d been in the medical tent in 1942, when Bucky had insisted that Steve was too good now to be with someone broken and hurt like him.

 

“Bucky…” Steve murmured.

 

“You know, while you’ve been following me, I’ve been following you too,” Bucky said, voice deceptively light and casual. “You should- uh- ask that kickass blonde girl out. She’s just your type, y’know.”

 

Steve pulled back a little with the force of his shock. “What? No, Buck-“

 

“I’m not…” Bucky interrupted. “I’m not good for you, Steve. And I’m dangerous. No amount of you believing in the best of me can change the fact that if someone else knows my words they could order me to kill you- to kill your friends. Wilson, the Sokovian girl, Stark, Natalia… and I wouldn’t have a choice. I wouldn’t even know I was doing it, and next time you might not be able to break me out of it.”

 

Bucky’s smile was devastating. “I’m a lost cause, Steve.”

 

Everything from Steve’s mind, to his heart, to his instincts, rallied against this.

 

“No.”

 

“Dammit, Steve-“

 

“No,” Steve argued, taking hold of Bucky’s hands, flesh and metal. “There are people who can help you now, Bucky. If they got those words into your head we can get them out again. It’s the future, Buck, anything is possible. But I’m not letting you go again.”

 

“Again?” Bucky asked, brow furrowing in confusion. Then he blinked a few times and his expression turned into horrified understanding. “Oh… Steve, what happened in the Alps-“

 

“-Was my fault,” Steve confessed. “I should’ve caught you. I should’ve tried harder, looked for you or goddamn gone down with you.”

 

“You didn’t know, Steve.”

 

“But I bet you still thought I’d come for you, right?” Steve replied, voicing his nightmares that he’d suffered through every single night since he found out that Bucky was alive. “When they took you? I’d done it in Azzano, even when everyone else thought you were dead, I could do it again, right?”

 

Bucky’s hands tightened around Steve’s. “I’m not going to let you do this to yourself.”

 

“Then I’m not going to let you convince yourself that you’re irredeemable,” Steve retorted. “Bucky, I love you. Nothing in the world could change that, and I’m not giving up on you.”

 

Bucky stared at Steve for a few shocked seconds, before he swallowed thickly, staunchly ignoring the saltwater that began to build up in his eyes.

 

“Dammit, Stevie. You still haven’t learned when a fight’s unwinnable, have you?”

 

“Don’t know the meaning of the word,” Steve replied with a smug grin.

 

“Punk,” Bucky said, rolling his eyes. “I love you too, you know.”

 

Steve’s heart leapt at the words he’d been dying to hear. “I know.”

 

Bucky then leaned down, untangled his hands from Steve’s so he could gently cup Steve’s face, and kissed him. Steve surged up to meet him, and _god_ , this was what they had been missing for seventy years – Bucky couldn’t help the way he dug his fingers into Steve’s shoulders and pulled him closer. Steve couldn’t help the way his fingers tangled into Bucky’s hair, the way they both kissed like they hadn’t since they’d both thought the other was dead.

 

Bucky slipped down from the edge of the bed onto Steve’s lap, and utterly devoured him.

 

Steve only pulled away from Bucky’s lips when the need for air became too great, but he didn’t dare move further than an inch, their lips brushing together with each breath. Bucky’s right hand came down to cup Steve’s chin, his thumb running across Steve’s red and swollen lower lip.

 

“Been waiting seventy years to do that again, sweetheart,” Bucky breathed out. The old pet name made Steve crumble into his arms. He buried his face into Bucky’s neck and forced himself to take in deep breaths as Bucky’s hand came up to his head and ran through his hair.

 

 _Fuck_. Steve had forgotten about this. The way that Bucky was so gentle, how he followed Steve anywhere in life and in battle, but how when they were alone Steve could just sag into his arms and trust Bucky to hold him up, to touch him like he was an altar to worship at, the way that Steve would melt at the words Bucky spoke to him. The way that Steve could let go with Bucky and let him take control. He hadn’t had this in years.

 

Steve was malleable in Bucky’s arms, and followed Bucky like he was the sun and Steve was Icarus, unable to resist getting closer. Bucky pulled Steve upright again so he could place kiss after kiss on Steve’s lips, occasionally pulling back with a bite that made Steve whimper.

 

Eventually Bucky stopped for long enough that the fog in Steve’s mind lifted, and he blinked a few times, trying to remember where he was. Bucky was smiling down at him softly, his eyes filled with gratitude, like he thought that he’d never be able to deserve this in a million years but was so thankful that he had it.

 

“We should…” Steve murmured. “We should probably tell the others about the Winter Soldiers.”

 

“Pretty sure they already know, Steve,” Bucky laughed. “The surveillance in this room is… thorough.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“You forget about that?” Bucky grinned, dragging his fingers down Steve’s back. “I make your head spin so much you forgot people were watching?”

 

“Maybe,” Steve admitted, face flushing.

 

Reluctantly, Bucky got to his feet and held a hand out to Steve. He grabbed it, and allowed Bucky to effortlessly pull him upright. Bucky’s metal arm then snaked around Steve’s waist so he could press another kiss to Steve’s lips – and the both of them couldn’t help but smile into it.

 

“Okay, sweetheart,” Bucky sighed as he pulled back. “Time to go do our jobs.”

 

Steve didn’t even worry as the two of them left the cell and headed back to the main control room. There was no way that anyone could consider Bucky guilty after what they had just witnessed, and five Winter Soldiers were far more dangerous than one. And if anyone tried to take Bucky away from him again…

 

Inside the control room, the majority of the staff were trying very hard to look like they were intensely concentrating on their work. Some were frowning and muttering at papers as they flicked back and forth between them (though their eyes didn’t read any of the words), and others typed at an astounding speed but their bodies telegraphed how tense and on edge they were.

 

Tony wasn’t even trying to look like he hadn’t been watching the video feed, and just stared at Steve with raised eyebrows. Natasha and Sam were talking quietly together, Sharon looked a little unsure what she should be going, and General Ross was giving Steve and Bucky a certified death glare.

 

“So, Cap-“ Tony started in a rather lecherous tone, and Steve interrupted him.

 

“Save it until afterwards, Tony. We have five Winter Soldiers to catch. That is, if General Ross deems that important enough to let the rest of you go. It’s not like he has any say over what Bucky, Sam and I do, so…” Steve pointedly trailed off, challenging General Ross with a look.

 

“Obviously he’s going to, Rogers,” Tony responded with an exasperated sigh. “We’ve all seen the damage one Winter Soldier can do. Five would do… exponentially more. As long as we make sure that the not-doctor doesn’t start listing things off in Russian, we’re good.”

 

Tony then turned rather theatrically to General Ross. “We are going, aren’t we, General?”

 

Ross was quiet for a few moments, and Natasha looked like she was already regretting signing the Accords. King T’Challa stood off to the edge of the room, nearly blending into the shadows, watching everything that was going on with intense scrutiny.

 

“We can’t let you leave with an internationally wanted criminal,” Ross eventually said after a long silence, looking straight at Bucky. Steve tensed.

 

“All due respect, sir,” Steve started. “As I’m sure you’ve just recently witnessed, Bucky isn’t responsible for the crimes that the Winter Soldier committed. That’s all on Hydra’s shoulders.”

 

“And it was Hydra who ordered him to blow the United Nations building and kill Wakanda’s king?” Ross thundered back. Steve almost expected Bucky to flinch away from the accusations, but he just straightened his shoulders and stared back coolly.

 

“I didn’t blow that building,” Bucky said. “Without the mind wipes, I can remember everything that I’ve done. Blowing that up wasn’t one of them, disassociative state or not. Given the lengths that the man who just escaped went through to get me here, to use my words and to ask me specifically about Siberia, I’d say it’s more likely that it was him.”

 

“Your face was on the CCTV cameras,” Ross retorted.

 

“Right, because facial prostheses and masks haven’t been invented yet, right?” Tony drawled. “Oh wait, yes they have! I distinctly remember seeing footage of Agent Romanoff using one to beat down Alexander Pierce two years ago.”

 

Ross turned the full force of his glare at Tony, who clenched his teeth in nervous response. “You telling me that you’re siding with the Winter Soldier? You signed the Accords, Stark. You do what we say.”

 

Tony glared back and took a step forward. “Yes, I signed the Accords. I signed it because we need to be held responsible for our actions. But I certainly didn’t sign it so you could order us around based on what _you_ think. And no, I’m not siding with the Winter Soldier. I’m siding with Bucky Barnes, who is, in case you’ve forgotten like I had until recently, a goddamn war hero.”

 

General Ross was speechless, shocked into silence at Tony’s sudden change of heart that sent Steve soaring into the air. He’d never known Tony Stark to so completely admit that he was wrong, and now… now he felt like they had a chance.

 

At that moment, T’Challa stood forward from where he had been observing.

 

“Given all that I have seen, I find it likely that the blame for my father’s death is not upon the shoulders of Bucky Barnes, but the man who recently escaped this building. I will give the benefit of the doubt, and follow the party to Siberia,” he intoned, voice regal and deep. Steve looked to Bucky, who was blinking in shock at the man who had recently tried to kill him.

 

“Speaking of which,” Sharon piped up, looking over the shoulder of an agent who had been able to pull a match from one of the CCTV cameras before the EMP blast bad blown out the power. “We’ve got a facial recognition match. His name is Colonel Helmut Zemo… ex-Sokovian paramilitary. He’s definitely not Doctor Broussard.”

 

“Shit,” Tony swore. “Jesus. Of course he’s Sokovian. More lives that we’ve probably ruined.”

 

“Hey,” Natasha finally spoke up, grabbing Tony’s forearm in a vice-grip. “We made the choice that we did because nobody else could. We sacrificed Sokovia so the rest of the world would be safe. It was a large price to pay, but those are the kind of decisions you have to make now. Those are the responsibilities that we take on. All we can do is move forward and try and clear the red out of our ledgers the best we can.”

 

Sam whistled. “Someone’s been getting speech lessons from Steve.”

 

“So?” Tony asked, recovered enough to whirl on the general. “Are we being deployed to Siberia? Or do you want Colonel Zemo to unleash five Winter Soldiers on the world?”

 

General Ross stared hard at Tony for a few moments before speaking into his earpiece. A few minutes later they were given permission to leave and had their suits and weapons returned. Ross provided a quinjet for them all – Steve, Bucky, Sam, Nat, Tony, Rhodes and T’Challa – and they set the coordinates that Bucky read out to them.

 

Nat took the pilot seat with Sam as her co-pilot, while T’Challa retreated to the back of the jet to observe as was his modus operandi. Tony and Rhodes sat on one side of the jet with Steve and Bucky on the other.

 

“So is now a good time to bring up the two of you?” Tony asked, tactlessly as per usual. Rhodes sighed and rolled his eyes, while Steve and Bucky looked at each other with unimpressed looks.

 

“You did say afterwards, Steve,” Bucky replied with a shrug. “And we’ve got a few hours until we hit Siberia.”

 

“What is there really to talk about, Tony? You all seem to think queer folk are some sort of newfangled twenty-first century invention,” Steve sighed, and Bucky broke out into delighted giggles. Tony and Rhodes’ eyes went wide as they watched the Winter Soldier giggle like a five-year-old boy. By the time Bucky stopped, his eyes were watering.

 

“…So that was super disturbing,” Tony drawled, sharing a quick look with Rhodes that conveyed _what the fuck_. “What I was referring to was a particular… shall we say- _dichotomy_ I noticed between you two. In the cell.”

 

“Oh my god, Tony,” Sam piped up from the co-pilot’s seat. “You can’t just ask people shit like that. I don’t ask you what you and Pepper get up to! I mean she was your assistant and now she’s technically your boss, you wanna get into the fact that she probably orders you around in the bedroom?”

 

Natasha snorted from next to Sam and they high-fived each other.

 

“I’m surrounded by children,” Rhodes sighed. Steve was grateful for Sam’s intervention as it allowed him enough time to control the instant flush that had risen to his face at Tony’s question. Bucky gently bumped his shoulder into Steve’s and gave him a comforting smile. Christ, not even a day ago Steve hadn’t been sure if Bucky remembered him at all and here he was – not entirely whole, not unbroken, but _here_ and _his_.

 

Bucky might not be the same anymore, but neither was Steve.

 

“I’m allowed to ask questions, Big Bird,” Tony defended, “when I find out that old and uptight Mr. Captain over here is actually a scrappy, sassy little shit; and on top of that is subby as hell in the bedroom.”

 

“For fuck’s sake,” Rhodes groaned. “Tony, please stop. I don’t want to think about Captain America in the bedroom.”

 

“I do,” Bucky retorted, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

 

“I hate you, Barnes,” Sam shouted back.

 

“I cannot believe you are the group entrusted to protect the world,” T’Challa murmured, eyes looking to the heavens as if for guidance from a deity.

 

“Okay, no, but serious question now,” Tony began. “I’m pretty sure being anything but straight back in ye olden days was illegal. How the hell did it all happen?”

 

Rhodes pursed his lips. “Can you not just let it go, Tony? You can’t up and ask people about their sexuality if they’re uncomfortable with it.”

 

“What?” Tony asked, voice raising in pitch. “I’m pretty sure nobody on this plane is straight. Although, I can’t exactly speak for you, Your Highness, considering that we’ve known each other all of a day.”

 

T’Challa simply inclined his head neutrally in response and ignored Tony’s probing.

 

“Steve had a crush on me when we first met,” Sam then spoke up. Steve’s entire face went bright red.

 

“Sam! Why would you tell them that?” Steve all but squeaked, ignoring the little shaking motions from where Bucky was silently laughing next to him. “Besides, it’s not like you didn’t like me back.”

 

“Oh, it’s true,” Natasha drawled. “They were both turning into the heart-eyes emoji.”

 

“You can’t talk, Mrs _Barton_ ,” Sam fired back. “Little arrow necklace and everything? Cute, Nat.”

 

“I thought Legolas was married to the chick on the farm? With the kids? I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what happened?” Tony asked, confused, looking around the jet like someone was gonna pop out with all the answers.

 

“They’re his family, Tony, and you just assumed wife and kids,” Natasha revealed. “They’re his brother’s wife and kids. Barney’s out of town a lot, though.”

 

Rhodes snorted. “I’m sorry. I just can’t believe anyone’s named _Barney_.”

 

Tony shuddered overdramatically. “That purple thing gave me nightmares.”

 

At that moment, Bucky leaned a little closer to Steve and whispered in his ear, close enough that Steve could feel his breath tickle his neck. “I’m a little out of the loop.”

 

Steve turned to look at Bucky, not more than a few inches away, and smiled. “I’ll fill you in later,” he said, before stealing a quick kiss from Bucky’s lips.

 

He turned back around to see Tony staring at the two of them again.

 

“ _What_?” Steve asked exasperatedly. “Actually, no. No talk of our relationship until we’ve finished business in Siberia.”

 

Tony legitimately whined aloud. “But then how do we fill in the time, Cap? We have ten _hours_ in the air.”

 

“Maybe we could behave like adults, for a start,” Rhodes said pointedly.

 

“In that case, how about we play the _Quiet Game_?” Natasha mocked. “Whoever can stay silent for the longest, wins!”

 

“Fuck off, Romanoff,” Tony sighed.

 

Things did settle down after that, however, and the majority of the trip passed as quickly as it could. Tony was able to tamper with some stuff in the quinjet and got a holographic game of monopoly going, with Nat and Sam playing from the front seat. T’Challa was unnervingly good at the game, while Tony continued to make bad financial choices that sent him spiralling towards bankruptcy. Bucky hoarded get out of jail free cards like his life depended on them.

 

Eventually the game began to devolve into swearing, shouting and threats. Rhodes had enough sense to turn it off before some actual fighting started, and Steve stretched his legs by heading up to the cockpit to see Nat and Sam.

 

He’d gotten a little sick earlier from the one glimpse he’d gotten of the churning ocean beneath them, reminding him of his one particularly bad incident when it came to cold waters and planes. Natasha had suggested tackling his fears head-on when exposure therapy hadn’t worked, and Steve had taken that as jumping into oceans without parachutes. It worked, for the most part.

 

Now, however, they’d crossed into Siberian airspace and there was nothing below them but ice and trees.

 

“You two ready?” Steve asked, crossing his arms on the back of Sam’s chair.

 

“Please, this is nothing,” Sam retorted. “Five Winter Soldiers? I can handle that. Easy.”

 

“No need to be a jackass about it,” Steve ribbed good-naturedly.

 

“Most people develop a sense of humor when they’re nervous,” Natasha informed them, entirely deadpan. “Or when they’re about to die.”

 

Sam looked from her to Steve, who shrugged and back to Natasha. “You know, half the time I still can’t tell when you’re joking.”

 

Natasha’s only response was a wry smile. Satisfied, Steve headed back to the main area of the jet and took his seat next to Bucky, who was bouncing his leg in anticipation. Whether it was due to nerves or bloodlust, Steve didn’t know, but he rest his hand on Bucky’s thigh comfortingly.

 

“He still knows my words, Steve,” Bucky murmured so quiet he could barely be heard. “It was stupid of me to come.”

 

“You’re also the only one other than Zemo who has any chance of helping the other soldiers,” Steve replied, his voice just as low. “I’m not going to let him get to you again, I promise, Buck. I’d rather die first.”

 

Bucky looked up at Steve with dread in his eyes. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

 

“Hey,” Steve whispered, taking Bucky’s face in his hands. “We’re both going to come out of this. We’ve got this far, right? How many people in our situation get a second chance?”

 

Bucky surged forward to kiss Steve, interlocking his flesh and metal fingers behind Steve’s neck to keep him in place. Smiling, Steve kissed back, something like home settling into his chest. Like a tension he hadn’t noticed but had been carrying for decades had finally loosened, like the ice finally thawed from his body.

 

He allowed himself a few seconds to just melt into the feeling of Bucky, for the world around them to disappear and narrow down to just the two of them in all existence. Steve memorized all over again the shape of Bucky’s lips, the texture of his hair, the pressure of his hands on the nape of his neck.

 

Reluctantly they had to pull away when Nat started their descent, and just let their foreheads rest against each other for a few moments as they breathed in. The calm before the storm.

 

“I wish Pepper and I were that cute,” Tony sighed wistfully, and then made a pained noise when Rhodes hit him.

 

Nat landed them smoothly just a few metres away from an armored truck atop a mountain that looked no different than the others, and they all headed to the quinjet’s armory. T’Challa had changed into the Black Panther suit before they’d left, as had Natasha into her catsuit. Steve was grateful to see his navy-and-silver stealth suit SHIELD had designed for him, and Bucky ripped the arm off a leather jacket when his metal arm refused to fit through the sleeve.

 

Sam’s wingpack hadn’t been damaged at all, Natasha had a load of fun little gadgets, and Rhodes and Tony had activated their War Machine and Iron Man suits respectively. Outside in the freezing air, they found that the iced-over bunker door had been recently opened.

 

As they stepped inside, Bucky took the lead, gun up and familiar with the facility. Steve stayed right behind him as the others all followed in on high alert, with Natasha taking up the rear. There was no resistance the entire way, and they soon came upon a thick, locked door.

 

“Tony?” Steve whispered.

 

“Six life signs,” Tony replied. A shot rang out. “Make that five. Four of the remaining life signs are showing in cryo. He’s… killing them?”

 

“Why the hell would he want to know about Siberia if he didn’t want to take control of the soldiers?” Rhodes asked, faceplate coming down.

 

“Stay on alert,” Steve ordered. He and Bucky exchanged a look, and then pushed the doors open. The room inside was more of a concrete cavern, with a ceiling that seemed to go all the way to the mountain’s very peak. Zemo was nowhere to be seen, but there were five orange-lit cryo pods stationed around the room.

 

In the centre of the room sat an empty pod that could only have been Bucky’s. Despite the fact that the technology was so advanced, it looked monstrous – it worked, but it wasn’t comfortable, and it wasn’t anywhere near the realm of nice.

 

“Very Soviet,” Natasha drawled. The air was thick and heavy with tension, and aside from their group and the four remaining soldiers in cryostasis, the room was empty and silent.

 

“Where the hell is he?” Sam murmured.

 

In response, a previously darkened section of the room lit up. Hidden inside, visible only through a small window, sat Zemo with an infuriatingly smug grin on his face. Tony immediately sent a blast at the wall, but the concrete was too thick even for his repulsor blasts to go through.

 

“You got here much faster than I would have liked,” Zemo said. “I assume by now that you know who I am?”

 

“Colonel Helmut Zemo,” Steve spoked. “Ex-Sokovian paramilitary. Beyond that, not much.” Zemo’s resulting glare could have melted metal with the force of the hatred inside his eyes.

  
“You worded that perfectly, Captain,” he replied. “Ex-Sokovian. As in, no longer, because my country no longer exists. Neither does my wife, or son, thanks to your actions.”

 

“So what is this, then?” Tony asked, stepping forward. “You want to use the other soldiers to kill us? _You_ want to kill us? We get it, okay. We are well aware that we killed hundreds, if not _thousands_ of people that day in Sokovia. Lives lost, families torn apart – we lost one of our own that day too. Pietro Maximoff. He and his sister were born in Sokovia. I’m sorry that we had to make that choice and that your family is dead. We are _so_ sorry.”

 

Instead of mellowing Zemo out, Tony’s words only seemed to infuriate the man even further.

 

“You just don’t get it, do you?” he spat. “Because of you, my family is dead! If you had never existed, I would still be with them! Instead here we are, and they are not here. It took me two days to find their bodies, and afterwards I thought, I will destroy the Avengers if it is the last thing I do. But I am just a man, I don’t have the power to do that. I’m not strong enough to destroy the Avengers.

 

“The only people strong enough to destroy the Avengers… are yourselves,” he finished. He then turned around to hit a button, and a nearby video screen began to play grainy footage of a road at nighttime, titled _Siberia 1991_.

 

Tony staggered back a few steps. “I know this road,” he said quietly.

 

“Oh, _der’mo_ ,” Natasha swore. Tony visibly shuddered when the footage changed as a car violently crashed straight into a tree with a sound that echoed throughout the room, crunching up the front of the car.

 

“Fuck,” Rhodes swore, seemingly recognising what was happening. He lay a hand on Tony’s shoulder, and Steve’s mind suddenly flashed back to Arnim Zola at Camp Lehigh.

 

 _When history would not co-operate… it was rewritten_. The newspaper article of Howard and Maria Stark’s tragic deaths with the Hydra symbol superimposed atop in blood red.

 

Steve turned to look at Bucky, who was staring at the screen, stricken.

 

On the screen, a man on a motorbike slid to a stop near the crash and calmly got off his bike. The light from a nearby street lamp reflected off the shining metal of the man’s arm.

 

Steve watched in horror as the Winter Soldier pulled Howard Stark out of the car and onto his knees. Their facial expressions couldn’t be seen at a distance, but nobody missed the way that Howard breathed out _Sergeant Barnes_.

 

Bucky’s rifle lowered in shock as he stared at the footage.

 

The Bucky on the screen bashed in Howard Stark’s face with his metal fist until the man slid lifelessly to the ground. Maria Stark could just be heard weakly calling out Howard’s name. The Winter Soldier placed Howard back in the car, moved around to the other side, and methodically snapped Maria’s neck. Tony flinched.

 

The Winter Soldier popped the boot and removed a suitcase before he noticed the security camera. Everyone in the room had a good view at Bucky’s empty, ruthless gaze as he shot the camera out.

 

Steve had never been in a situation where the phrase _so silent you could hear a pin drop_ had ever been applicable – until now. It was so quiet everyone seemed to be holding their breaths, looking to Tony who was frozen in front of the screen, waiting to see what he would do.

 

Then, faster than what anyone could see, Tony held out his hand and sent two repulsor blasts straight at Bucky. The first hit him in the chest where he went flying through the air, slamming hard into the concrete wall at the other side of the room. The second blew off his metal arm at the shoulder.

 

“Bucky!”

 

“ _Tony!_ ”

 

Steve ran straight for Bucky as the others held Tony back. Sliding to his knees on the cold concrete, Steve touched the side of Bucky’s neck, praying to every single deity in the cosmos. His shoulders sagged and his throat unconstricted as he found a pulse, Bucky’s breath brushing against the back of his hand.

 

A repulsor blast not even an inch away from Steve’s head made him flinch and roll into a protective stance in front of Bucky, shield out and in front of them. Tony’s face was like nothing Steve had ever seen before – cold, hard, and filled with absolute _rage_. Rhodes had hold of one of Tony’s arms and Natasha was struggling with pulling back the other, the one with the extended palm and glowing repulsor light.

 

“Tony, don’t do this,” Rhodes begged. “You are not a murderer.”

 

“ _He is_ ,” Tony spat.

 

“He was brainwashed and tortured with an altered state of mind, you saw it yourself, Tony,” Natasha said. “The Winter Soldier may have killed them but the man in front of you is Bucky Barnes – remember?”

 

Tony’s face contorted in sorrow and rage. “He killed my _Mom_.”

 

“Hydra killed them,” Sam weighed in, voice low and gentle like he was talking down a spooked animal. He’d used it on nights when Steve had screamed himself awake and not realised where he was.

 

Tony clenched his teeth so hard Steve could hear them grind, and Tony attempted to struggle out of his teammates’ clutches. Natasha and Rhodes held on fast, though, and Steve slowly got to his feet, shield on one forearm as he held his palms out in front of him, gesturing for peace.

 

“Please, Tony,” he begged. “You just saw what happened at the Counter Terrorist Facility. You saw how they forced Bucky to become someone he’s not, someone who is _ready to comply_. You saw how he tried to kill me, how he wasn’t in control. He wasn’t in control then. He was under orders from Hydra.”

 

Steve hesitantly took a few steps forward, away from Bucky.

 

“Tony, he is the love of my life. You’ve just spent ten hours with him on a plane playing monopoly, you stood up to General Ross for him!” Steve pleaded. “It wasn’t him, Tony. He was the gun, not the shooter. C’mon, Tony, _please._ ”

 

Tony didn’t reply, but his face did not change and his harsh breathing was the only thing that broke the silence of the room.

 

“I love him,” Steve whispered. “Please don’t take him from me.”

 

At that moment, Bucky stirred into consciousness, rolling over just a little as he croaked out Steve’s name. Something in Tony’s expression cracked, and his face hardened.

 

Without warning, Tony whirled around and fired two repulsor blasts at the window through which Zemo was looking. The man flinched back, though the glass held, but began to sport hairline cracks. Spooked, Zemo turned and ran, and Tony growled.

 

“ _Get him_ ,” he all but snarled. The Avengers snapped to attention and they all took off down the hallways, trying to find out where Zemo had gone. Steve dropped his shield and went straight back to Bucky, cradling the man’s head on his legs, stroking back his hair like he had in the containment cell.

 

T’Challa hesistated by the doorway with his mask on.

 

“We’ll be fine, go,” Steve said. With a nod, T’Challa took off after the man who killed his father. Steve couldn’t find it within himself to leave Bucky alone, injured and unconscious, and tried to ignore the sounds that echoed through the facility. Four Avengers and the King of Wakanda could surely hunt down one man.

 

Bucky stirred again, and Steve cradled his face as his eyelids fluttered, and Bucky finally came back to.

 

“Steve?” he asked, voice creaking.

 

“Hey, Buck,” Steve replied. “How you feeling?”

 

“Like I’ve been thrown into a brick wall,” Bucky groaned. “Stark?”

 

“Gone to hunt down Zemo with the others.”

 

“Fuck,” Bucky swore, staring straight up at the ceiling far above them. “I remembered Siberia, I just… didn’t remember who it was. I think I must’ve blocked it out once the mission was over. Howard…”

 

“Not your fault,” Steve replied, pressing a kiss to Bucky’s forehead. “Tony’s angry right now, but he’ll realise it once he cools down. He’s a pretty smart guy, y’know.”

 

Bucky took in a deep breath. “I don’t deserve forgiveness. I don’t even know why you keep… doing this for me. Standing up for me. Treating me like I’m a human being.”

 

Steve smiled sadly, and nudged Bucky until he finally looked at Steve.

 

“That’s because I love you, jerk,” Steve grinned.

 

“Dumbass,” Bucky sighed. “I love you too.”

 

The crash had broken a few of Bucky’s ribs when he’d come into contact with the concrete wall, and Steve stayed by his side while they waited for the bones to mend themselves enough for Bucky to get back on his feet. The sounds of fighting in the facility finally came to an end, and a few minutes later Natasha and Sam entered the room looking a little worse for wear.

 

“What happened?” Steve asked.

 

“Stark went ballistic,” Sam replied. “Tried to damn near rip Zemo’s head off once we’d found him; guy scurried through the facility like a rat up a drain pipe. His Highness is the one who stopped Tony in the end, surprisingly. Said that vengeance was consuming him, and would consume Tony, or some wise, regal shit like that. They knocked him out and we're gonna take him back to Ross.”

 

“Tony took off,” Natasha then said. “Rhodes followed him, so it’s up to us to take Zemo back. How’s Barnes?”

 

In response, Bucky groaned and sat up, clutching at his ribs.

 

“I’ll be fine,” he huffed. “Did you find the book?”

 

Natasha pulled the little red, star-embossed journal from seemingly nowhere and tossed it over to Bucky. With a shaking hand, Bucky opened it, and read through the pages.

 

He then tore out the pages pertaining to him, and threw the book at Steve, who caught it.

 

“There’s protocol for waking up the others non-hostile,” Bucky said tonelessly. “You can get them to a facility somewhere and try and get them some help.”

 

“Might I make a suggestion?” came a voice, and they all looked up to see T’Challa enter the room sans helmet. “Wakanda is the most technologically advanced nation on the planet. I believe that we will be able to help the soldiers there, as well as you, Sergeant Barnes, if you wish.”

 

Bucky blinked up at T’Challa.

 

“You… you’d do that for me?” he asked. “I mean, is it even possible?”

 

T’Challa smiled gently. “If it is impossible now, we will make it possible. I have seen all that you have been through, and if anyone deserves peace, it is you.”

 

Bucky closed his eyes against the onslaught of tears and emotion, and Steve pulled Bucky into his arms, stroking his hair and pressing kisses to his skull.

 

“I’d say that’s a resounding yes,” Sam smiled. “How about we take this asshole back to Ross and make sure that Stark hasn’t drunk himself into a pit of despair?”

 

“Rhodey’s got more control over him than that,” Natasha retorted. Steve helped Bucky to his feet and passed him over to Sam, who held Bucky up as he and T’Challa led Bucky back to the quinjet.

 

Steve turned to Natasha. “How about you help me rescue these soldiers?”

 

“I’d love to,” Nat grinned.

 

* * *

 

**FIVE MONTHS LATER**

 

“How do you feel, Mr Stark, about the fact that Sergeant Barnes has been accused of killing your parents?” Murdock asked.

 

The court was silent as Tony looked over to Bucky.

 

“The Winter Soldier killed my parents,” Tony replied evenly. “Bucky Barnes is not the Winter Soldier. I believe you have all the psychological mumbo-jumbo that tells you all about the fun disassociative state that Hydra put him in. Bucky Barnes is a war hero who deserves some peace for once in this world.”

 

Steve felt his face split into a grin, and when Tony caught his eye from where he sat behind Bucky, he mouthed a silent _thank you_.

 

Tony just winked in response.

 

Bucky, in between them, sat with his head held high and his new Stark-tech arm mostly covered up by the suit that he wore (and made from Wakandan vibranium, courtesy of T'Challa). Between the gleaming silver plates on his fourth finger sat a thin band of gold.

 

* * *

 

**Author's Note:**

> **Want me to write you something? Check it out on my tumblr >>> [HERE!](https://tricksterity.tumblr.com/post/167729545737/commission-time-open-the-basics-im-a)**


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